I LOVE LOVE LOVE teff flour for so many reasons:

Teff super nutritious!! “Teff is a high-fiber food and a strong source of protein, manganese, iron and calcium. The array of vitamins and minerals found in teff contribute to its role as a healthy, weight-managing and bone-strengthening food.” from Dr Axe on benefits of teff.

It’s incredibly flavorful (reminds me a bit of whole wheat)

It’s easy to work with

Seriously, you’ve got to try teff flour if you never had, it’s a winner!

I started with an old favorite cookbook, Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. I really love these authors and use their books frequently for inspiration. I had to make the recipe gluten free and I changed a couple other things up to make it healthier. Enjoy!

Instructions

Make the Filling:

In a small saucepan, cook the filling ingredients over a low simmer for 10-20 minutes. Mash periodically, adding more water as necessary. I always seem to use a cup or more of water as my figs are very dry. You want the end moisture to be thick and moist like a thick jelly. Just keep mashing around until the pieces are mostly broken down. If you have kiddos averse to texture, you could puree the mixture in a food processor.

Make the Crust:

In a large mixing bowl, mix the chia meal and room temp milk. Add in the palm sugar and vanilla. While continually whisking, pour in the melted coconut oil.

Sprinkle in the dry ingredients, in order.

Using your whisk,lightly mix the dry ingredients before whisking more thoroughly into the wet. Stir until a wet dough is formed.

Assembly:

Roll out one 8 x 8 square. Use at least one piece of parchment, and another piece of either a greased or floured piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Roll the dough out between the two sheets. This keeps the sticky dough away from your rolling pin.

Remove the top piece, leaving the dough directly on the parchment.

Lift the paper with the dough and place into an 8 x 8 baking dish.

Spread the filling evenly over the bottom crust.

The top crust is trickier as you have to remove both pieces that you rolled between. Flouring generously each sheet helps with this. Flour or grease both pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper thoroughly. Roll the remaining dough out to apx an 8 x 8 square. Gently remove the top piece, and lift the remaining piece: invert on top of the filling. It does not have to look perfect!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden. Let cool completely before cutting...if you can wait that long!

Nutrition Facts

Gluten Free Vegan Wholesome Fig Newtons Bars

Amount Per Serving

Calories 178Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 4g25%

Sodium 128mg6%

Potassium 205mg6%

Carbohydrates 30g10%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 17g19%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 5IU0%

Vitamin C 0.6mg1%

Calcium 61mg6%

Iron 1.1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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I decided to make these today and I was not disappointed. The texture, smell, and look of those eponymous cookies is right here in this recipe. The crust is light and fluffy with excellent crumb. I probably added more oil than was called for, but everything turned out great! I will DEFINITELY make these again!

I love Fig Newtons and will be trying these soon! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday and hope you have a great week!
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Miz HelenMiz Helen recently posted…Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Hi Linda! Palm sugar is available at all of the stores I shop now: fred meyer, whole foods, trader joes. It is also available at most big online retailers like amazon, iHerb, and Vitacost. Somewhere between 3.99-4.99/pound average. You can use brown sugar too!

Hi Tracy1 Teff is a bit of a sweetheart flour for me, one of my very favorites for it’s familiar nutty flavor and high nutrition (info on my baking tips/flours page). Teff is a grass seed actually, and super tiny. It is a traditional grain used here is some info if you’re interested: http://whatscookingamerica.net/CharlotteBradley/Teff-Flour.htm. I purchase it for about $2.50/pound thrugh my local coop, previously I was spliting a 25 pound bag from teffco.com with friends for close to that price.

I am SOOO happy to have found you and this recipe! I bought a bag of organic figs at Costco yesterday – HUGE bag for $8.49. I'm teaching a Gluten free class tonight and will be making this recipe to bring with me. And of course, I will share your blog with all the participants. Thank you!

Your Fig Newtons sound so delicious, and it's wonderful that they are gluten free and vegan too! It's lovely when yummy is healthy too. Thank you for sharing this post with the Hearth and Soul hop. I've chosen it as one of my highlights from last week, and linked to it from this week's post.

My husband loves fig newtons but as you can imagine we don't buy them..so much fake stuff in them. These look great and healthy. Great use of chia seeds too. Thanks for stopping by and sharing them with us at WFW